Russula mustelina
Epicr. syst. mycol.: 351. 1838.
Common Name: none
For descriptions see Castellano et al. & Siegel et al. & 'California Mushrooms'.
Scattered to gregarious in pine-fir forests; fruiting in fall at high elevation in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges. Not uncommon.
Edible and good.
Russula mustelina is distinguished by a cream-colored cap with pink to vinaceous splotches, cream gills and spores, a mild taste, and very hard tissues, especially in the stipe. It is similar in coloration to R. basifurcata, a less robust species with gills conspicuously forked near the stipe, which grows in the fall and spring at lower elevations, usually associated with live oaks.
Castellano, M.A., Cázares, E., Fondrick, B. & Dreisbach, T. (2003). Handbook to additional fungal species of special concern in the Northwest Forest Plan (Gen. Tech Rep. PNW-GTR-572). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station: Portland, OR. 144 p. (PDF)
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Knudsen, H. & Vesterholt, J. ed. (2008). Funga Nordica: Agaricoid, boletoid and cyphelloid genera. 965 p.
Kränzlin, F. (2005). Fungi of Switzerland. Volume 6: Russulaceae. Verlag Mykologia: Luzern, Switzerland. 317 p.
Murrill, W.A. (1907). North American Flora: (Agaricales) Polyporaceae-Agaricaceae. 9(7): 461-542.
Roberts, C. (2007). Russulas of southern Vancouver Island coastal forests. Doctoral dissertation. University of Victoria: Victoria, BC, Canada. 667 p. (PDF)
Siegel, N., Vellinga, E.C., Schwarz, C., Castellano, M.A. & Ikeda, D. (2019). A Field Guide to the Rare Fungi of California's National Forests. Bookmobile: Minneapolis, MN. 313 p. (PDF)
Thiers, H.D. (1997). The Agaricales (Gilled Fungi) of California. 9. Russulaceae I. Russula. Mad River Press: Eureka, CA. 158 p.
